Ever since we arrived in England, I have been super excited about going on a Host Visit! I finally got my assigned location a few weeks ago saying I was going to be with a family in Insch, Aberbdeen Scotland. It was a visit to see a woman and husband in their late 50’s for the weekend of November 21st. I started my long travel journey to Scotland at 7:20 Friday the 21st of November morning. I walked to the University of Birmingham’s train station to catch an 8:03 train to Edinburgh, Haymarket. Once there I found out that my train actually left from New Street Station! Ahh! Luckily there was a train leaving at 7:47 going through New Street Station that would get me there at 8:01. I jumped of the train and ran to my next train jumping on as the doors where closing….phew! Now I had 3 ½ hours till I’d arrive in Haymarket. I walked up and down the aisle to find that the only seat left was a seat with no window, facing the opposite direction we were heading….great! Now my motion sickness is going to kick in. Luckily to my advantage, no on sat by me giving me room to breathe and since it was so early I slept the ENTIRE time! Waking up to find that the next train stop was my stop…again…. PHEW! I glanced at my cell to see the time only to find that yet again I had less than three minutes to catch my next train to Aberdeenshire, although this time I was lucky because when I got off the train the platform I needed to be on was just across the way. PERFECT! After another 3 hour train ride I was in Aberdeenshire. This time I had 40 minutes to wait till my next train. The train to Insch was only 35 minutes and when we arrived to the station it was SNOWING! A LOT!
I was starting to get really excited by this point not only that I was finally done with trains for the day, but to meet the people I would be staying with! It was absolutely beautiful in Insch with the snow and hills everywhere. It looked like a cute little fairy tale snowy town! After about 5 minutes waiting in the snow, Bron showed up. Bron was the wife and her husband wasn’t there because he was working in South Africa, so it was just going to be and her. Which I didn’t think was a big deal. After stopping at the store to pick up a few groceries we headed off to her house in the country which was another 10 minutes out of town. It was snowing pretty heavily at this time and I was starting to get a bit nervous. Bron kept making short comments on ‘how unwise it was for me to come to Insch in November’ or ‘It’s a shame I’m here.’ Even before we arrived at her home I already felt unwelcome and not wanted. We got to her home and when we walked in her house a friend of hers was there fixing her internet connection so as I stood in the entry way with my things not knowing what to do, she continued to chit chat with her friend for a long while. Then she turned and was like “oops, I forgot. I’ll show you to your room.” Once in my little tiny room, I tried texting Ashley to not only inform her that I was here safe but also to tell her I wanted to LEAVE! But, I had zero reception. Great. I walked down stairs and sat at the kitchen table while she was on the phone and just watched to tube for a bit. She told me that there was internet if I needed it so I first emailed my director to inform him on my safe travels but also to let him know how I was feeling about being here. Once I was done online, Bron left. Um…okay? After about an hour the phone started ringing. I didn’t answer cause I don’t live here. It rang again. Again no answer. It rang again and this time Bron came in and said “it’s for you! You were supposed to answer it!” Well of course! What was I thinking? When you meet someone for the first time you always answer their home telephone. When I answered it was Katie seeing how I was and telling me that Greg, my program director, had contacted her. Once Bron returned from her studio where she was doing work, she made another phone call to a friend to talk about how mad she was that she had to cook and mess up her kitchen. Keep in mind I’m sitting at the kitchen table listening to everything that she is saying. I felt not only unwelcome even more at this point but I also felt that this woman who volunteered to have someone visit her home for a host visit was feeling obligated to cook for me…..um….Finally she got off the phone and started cooking. Dinner was probably the most delicious meal I’ve ever had! I yummy chicken stew, different cheeses on crackers, and a glass of really nice red Scottish wine. Dinner conversation was okay, but we mainly watched “X Factor “on the tube. After dinner we went into the living room to watch a film that I offered as an option to do and she couldn’t figure out how to use it.
After she grumbled about not getting the TV to work I just was just like “Don’t worry about it, I’m kind of tired so I’ll just go to bed. What time would you like me to be ready in the morning?” she responded “9. Then we can see if there is anything we can do.” Alrightythan. The next morning I was down in the kitchen a little after 9 to find a yummy full English breakfast almost ready! YAY! She looked at me and said “if you don’t leave today, you’ll get snowed in.” Oh um, okay that’s fine with me. She did make me a lunch to take with me on the train which was nice but then we took a few pictures around her house in about 3 minutes, jumped in the car and took off into town so I could catch a train to Aberdeenshire. The trains were going pretty well cause I’d have about 10 minutes between each train to get to my next one. But, knock on wood, with my luck something happened when we were pulling into the station at Oxenholm. A woman jumped in front of the train I was on as we were pulling into the station. We all had to stay in our seats for little less than an hour while the police were asking questions and the ambulance where doing their thing. This was not fun. Then they finally had everyone get off the train and move to another. By the time I got to Manchester I missed my train to Birmingham and had to wait an hour till another train would come by. Once I was in Birmingham, Katie met me at the Station and my British roommate Emily picked me up so I didn’t have to take a taxi or bus home. Phew, I’m home. That experience is over. Never again.
If you ever want to take a trip to Insch, Aberdeenshire. Don’t
Cheers!
Kirsten
Monday 24 November 2008
Sunday 16 November 2008
England vs. Australia
So I got a job working for a catering company in Birmingham called MJ Personnel. I got the job a month or so ago and I haven’t been called for a job yet till Wednesday afternoon. They called to see if I’ll be able to work on Saturday in London at the England vs. Australia Rugby Match and of course I said “YES!” They called the next day to see if I would be willing to work behind the bar, I said I’m a fast learner and that should be fine. So on Saturday morning I arrived at the office along with 7 other American’s who work for MJ at 6am. When I signed in, the lady behind the desk asked me again if I’m comfortable behind the bar and again I told her I don’t have much experience but could learn fast. She told me to wait a bit by the corner. A few minutes later a call came in and the other person in charge whispered to the lady behind the desk something along the line of ‘he isn’t coming’ and she quickly looked up and turned to me and said “Try on those black suit jackets over there.” I obediently did and was sent to get on the coach.
Once in London, the manager started called out names for the people who needed to get to their positions immediately, I was one of those people. I get off the bus and counted out only 5 of the 40 MJ people who came to London. I started getting a bit nervous. A lady met us as we got off the coach and started assigning locations. She pointed to me and said “Retail Bar” and I quickly responded “Um, yeah I’m American and I’m not so good with English currency yet?” She then switched me to box seats. Phew! Then a woman came up and grabbed my arm to lead me to where I needed to be. After a long walk to get to the new part of the stadium, we took an elevator up to the 4th floor. She led me into a very posh looking room and when I entered there were a lot of people standing around in black shirts, ties and the same apron. As I walked through the room past what I assumed where the servers, I noticed 4 people dressed in the same attire standing patiently behind the bar. I was then introduced to two women who were the managers of that particular room. As I approached they started talking about how happy they are to see me and how much success they have had with MJ Bar Supervisors…..yup I was going to be a Bar Supervisor.AHH!!! They kept telling me things such as the plan for the day, the drinks they wanted ready for when the guests arrived, blah blah blah I couldn’t really hear them because inside I was freaking out. After they were finished I told them in the most professional way I could about how I was more or less a ‘supervisor in training’ and that I’ve ‘never’ worked in a bar such as this, and how if they preferred I could ring up my manager to get someone else more experienced. The two women just stood there for a bit and then the main woman in charged looked at the other woman, then to me and said “You know what, you can’t learn anything till you try it. I trust you and I know from meeting you that you’ll do just fine.” That was it. I put on my big girl shoes and went to work. I was introduced to the 4 bar staff who reported directly to me and they were very nice. One is actually a study abroad student as well, he is from Georgia Tech. I’m a pretty fast learner and I’m a pretty good actress so I played it as if I knew exactly what I was doing.
First off, Sheena who was the main woman in charge wanted me to get 8 trays ready with orange juice, water, champagne and buck’s fizzes. I only knew what a buck’s fizz was because I remember one of my British roommates talking about them and I was like “What’s that” and they were like champagne and orange juice. In America, I believe we usually call them Mimosa’s. So right off the bat I was doing well. We were getting the noon drinks ready and everything was under control. Throughout the day the drink orders were pretty self explanatory. The main orders were beers which were easy enough, although there were a pretty big handful of others as well. When first person who ordered a gin n’ tonic, they asked for a larger, so I thought to myself it must be two shots if it’s a large and for some reason I said “Ice and a slice?” I think I heard that from a movie once and they were like “Please.” Okay, at this point I was like Wow, I’m doing pretty good for never ever doing this in my life. The other drinks ordered simple things like vodka cokes, brandy, wines, whiskeys, port, a few becks shanties and some Red Velvets. I only knew the last two cause I watched one of the people working behind the bar mix one for a guest prior to my order if it. Again, phew. After all the guests were finished and left to watch the game we cleaned up and sat down to eat ourselves. Although since it took so long to clean, I only had a few bites of my steak till I had to get up again for the half period drinks. After that I had to get the pre-order drink trays ready for after the game.
So throughout my ten hour shift I had a few bites of food, a sip of coffee and no bathroom breaks. When the game was over and everyone was enjoying their pre-ordered drinks, the host of the event, some big wig rugby player who I don’t know the name of started bringing up speakers. Three famous alum rugby players, again I don’t know the names and the two captions of the England Rugby team, England lost so the mood wasn’t that great. Just as the host was about to close the event, guess who walks in? Steve Williams, Beijing gold medalist in rowing and Victoria Pendleton gold medalist in Track Cycling! It was really cool! Steve Williams walks up to the bar and orders a coke. I handed him the coke, brushed is fingers and was two inches from a REAL OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL! So yeah, after all 80 guests left Sheena handed me three sheets of inventory in which I needed to count every bottle, can, and all my supplies. I also had long list of chores like cleaning the bar and fridges before I could leave and let my bar staff leave. So after about an hour or so we were done. All the servers checked out with Sheena and I was the last to leave. She handed me my tips of the night, 20 pounds, which is really good because people don’t tip here and it wasn’t a cash bar. Then she shook my hand and told me what a wonderful job I did and how should couldn’t tell for a minute that I was ‘still in training.’ So I took that as though I did a pretty darn good job. As I walked back to the coach, a few people who I worked with caught up with me and asked a little about me, I found out that I was the youngest person in the room yet the third in command. Hehehe. I was 19 and I was working with mostly 22-26 year olds.
So in conclusion, I had a wonderful experience in London as a Bar Supervisor and I still can’t believe I pulled it off. It was a great learning experience and I’m happy I took the job. Oops, it’s 1 am!
Cheers
Kirsten
Once in London, the manager started called out names for the people who needed to get to their positions immediately, I was one of those people. I get off the bus and counted out only 5 of the 40 MJ people who came to London. I started getting a bit nervous. A lady met us as we got off the coach and started assigning locations. She pointed to me and said “Retail Bar” and I quickly responded “Um, yeah I’m American and I’m not so good with English currency yet?” She then switched me to box seats. Phew! Then a woman came up and grabbed my arm to lead me to where I needed to be. After a long walk to get to the new part of the stadium, we took an elevator up to the 4th floor. She led me into a very posh looking room and when I entered there were a lot of people standing around in black shirts, ties and the same apron. As I walked through the room past what I assumed where the servers, I noticed 4 people dressed in the same attire standing patiently behind the bar. I was then introduced to two women who were the managers of that particular room. As I approached they started talking about how happy they are to see me and how much success they have had with MJ Bar Supervisors…..yup I was going to be a Bar Supervisor.AHH!!! They kept telling me things such as the plan for the day, the drinks they wanted ready for when the guests arrived, blah blah blah I couldn’t really hear them because inside I was freaking out. After they were finished I told them in the most professional way I could about how I was more or less a ‘supervisor in training’ and that I’ve ‘never’ worked in a bar such as this, and how if they preferred I could ring up my manager to get someone else more experienced. The two women just stood there for a bit and then the main woman in charged looked at the other woman, then to me and said “You know what, you can’t learn anything till you try it. I trust you and I know from meeting you that you’ll do just fine.” That was it. I put on my big girl shoes and went to work. I was introduced to the 4 bar staff who reported directly to me and they were very nice. One is actually a study abroad student as well, he is from Georgia Tech. I’m a pretty fast learner and I’m a pretty good actress so I played it as if I knew exactly what I was doing.
First off, Sheena who was the main woman in charge wanted me to get 8 trays ready with orange juice, water, champagne and buck’s fizzes. I only knew what a buck’s fizz was because I remember one of my British roommates talking about them and I was like “What’s that” and they were like champagne and orange juice. In America, I believe we usually call them Mimosa’s. So right off the bat I was doing well. We were getting the noon drinks ready and everything was under control. Throughout the day the drink orders were pretty self explanatory. The main orders were beers which were easy enough, although there were a pretty big handful of others as well. When first person who ordered a gin n’ tonic, they asked for a larger, so I thought to myself it must be two shots if it’s a large and for some reason I said “Ice and a slice?” I think I heard that from a movie once and they were like “Please.” Okay, at this point I was like Wow, I’m doing pretty good for never ever doing this in my life. The other drinks ordered simple things like vodka cokes, brandy, wines, whiskeys, port, a few becks shanties and some Red Velvets. I only knew the last two cause I watched one of the people working behind the bar mix one for a guest prior to my order if it. Again, phew. After all the guests were finished and left to watch the game we cleaned up and sat down to eat ourselves. Although since it took so long to clean, I only had a few bites of my steak till I had to get up again for the half period drinks. After that I had to get the pre-order drink trays ready for after the game.
So throughout my ten hour shift I had a few bites of food, a sip of coffee and no bathroom breaks. When the game was over and everyone was enjoying their pre-ordered drinks, the host of the event, some big wig rugby player who I don’t know the name of started bringing up speakers. Three famous alum rugby players, again I don’t know the names and the two captions of the England Rugby team, England lost so the mood wasn’t that great. Just as the host was about to close the event, guess who walks in? Steve Williams, Beijing gold medalist in rowing and Victoria Pendleton gold medalist in Track Cycling! It was really cool! Steve Williams walks up to the bar and orders a coke. I handed him the coke, brushed is fingers and was two inches from a REAL OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL! So yeah, after all 80 guests left Sheena handed me three sheets of inventory in which I needed to count every bottle, can, and all my supplies. I also had long list of chores like cleaning the bar and fridges before I could leave and let my bar staff leave. So after about an hour or so we were done. All the servers checked out with Sheena and I was the last to leave. She handed me my tips of the night, 20 pounds, which is really good because people don’t tip here and it wasn’t a cash bar. Then she shook my hand and told me what a wonderful job I did and how should couldn’t tell for a minute that I was ‘still in training.’ So I took that as though I did a pretty darn good job. As I walked back to the coach, a few people who I worked with caught up with me and asked a little about me, I found out that I was the youngest person in the room yet the third in command. Hehehe. I was 19 and I was working with mostly 22-26 year olds.
So in conclusion, I had a wonderful experience in London as a Bar Supervisor and I still can’t believe I pulled it off. It was a great learning experience and I’m happy I took the job. Oops, it’s 1 am!
Cheers
Kirsten
Edinburgh, Scotland
I had an amazing time in Edinburgh! I absolutely loved Scotland! It started at 7:45 am Friday morning. We had a 7 hour coach ride ahead of us and I wasn’t too happy….but, I took some motion sickness medicine and slept the majority of the time. We stopped three hours into our journey in a little town called Carslile. We had a little more than an hour so a group of us decided to eat lunch at this little Italian restaurant. Our food took forever and by the time we got it, we had ten minutes to eat it and still get back to the bus which was somewhat of a hike away. Of course, my food came last of all and it was boiling in the bowl when I got it…yay. I ate it as fast as I could and believe me; I have no taste buds left!
We still had another four hours till we got to Edinburgh, but since there was a lot of traffic when we entered the city, it took longer. Therefore, we had less time to get ready for a Posh Dinner at the Edinburgh University with UMD’s chancellor who made the journey over here to see how everything was going. The posh dinner was a lot of fun and in this really cool building that looked almost like a Castle on the outside.
The next day we toured the Scottish Parliament. It was a newly constructed building and it was beautiful. After the tour, a small group of us took a coach ride to visit Roslyn Chapel. Roslyn Chapel was absolutely phenomenal! After Roslyn Chapel we went back to our 5 star Youth Hostel. After a yummy dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, the majority of our group made our journey across part of Edinburgh for a ghost tour of ‘the most haunted’ place in Great Britain according to the BBC. It was a very freaky tour of the vaults and a cemetery. It wasn’t necessarily people jumping out to scare you but the history of the rooms that we were in was very unsettling. The next morning I woke up bright and early go to with a small group on a walking tour of Edinburgh with Amy, our assistant director of the program. The tour was pretty cool, we saw the National Gallery, some chapels, the castle, and oh yeah how can I forget, we got a cup of coffee at ‘the elephant house’ where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter!!!
After the walking tour I went off on my own to do some shopping till the time came for me to meet up with Katie and Ashley. I wondered a bit from store to store just enjoying some me time in Scotland. During the walking tour I noticed a beautiful pink wool coat in a store window and as I was on my own, I came across it again. So since I had the time, I wandered in the store, tried it on….and bought it. Yup, I have a bright pink, knee length wool winter coat from Scotland.
The next morning we got up early to make our way back to Birmingham. Three hours into our trip we stopped in the small town of Lancaster. So we had a little more than an hour to eat, we decided we didn’t want to scarf down hot food like last time so we went to the nearest little café by the bus to get a quick bite. Well…there were four of us, three of us ordered cheese burgers n’ chips and one ordered fish n’chips. All of us ordered a glass of tap water. After the waiter took our order, he put his coat on and walked out the door. A few minutes later he came back with a pack of classes, removed the card board and filled them up with water and served it us. Then we saw the cook come out of the kitchen, leave, and run across the street to the grocery store. When she came back she had a box of frozen burgers and breaded fish. Mmm….that’s a bit odd… Then the waiter left again and came back with a back of hamburger buns. Our food came a few minutes later and was horrible. That was my experience in Lancaster and I don’t think I’ll ever go back. Yikes!
Cheers!
Kirsten
We still had another four hours till we got to Edinburgh, but since there was a lot of traffic when we entered the city, it took longer. Therefore, we had less time to get ready for a Posh Dinner at the Edinburgh University with UMD’s chancellor who made the journey over here to see how everything was going. The posh dinner was a lot of fun and in this really cool building that looked almost like a Castle on the outside.
The next day we toured the Scottish Parliament. It was a newly constructed building and it was beautiful. After the tour, a small group of us took a coach ride to visit Roslyn Chapel. Roslyn Chapel was absolutely phenomenal! After Roslyn Chapel we went back to our 5 star Youth Hostel. After a yummy dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, the majority of our group made our journey across part of Edinburgh for a ghost tour of ‘the most haunted’ place in Great Britain according to the BBC. It was a very freaky tour of the vaults and a cemetery. It wasn’t necessarily people jumping out to scare you but the history of the rooms that we were in was very unsettling. The next morning I woke up bright and early go to with a small group on a walking tour of Edinburgh with Amy, our assistant director of the program. The tour was pretty cool, we saw the National Gallery, some chapels, the castle, and oh yeah how can I forget, we got a cup of coffee at ‘the elephant house’ where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter!!!
After the walking tour I went off on my own to do some shopping till the time came for me to meet up with Katie and Ashley. I wondered a bit from store to store just enjoying some me time in Scotland. During the walking tour I noticed a beautiful pink wool coat in a store window and as I was on my own, I came across it again. So since I had the time, I wandered in the store, tried it on….and bought it. Yup, I have a bright pink, knee length wool winter coat from Scotland.
The next morning we got up early to make our way back to Birmingham. Three hours into our trip we stopped in the small town of Lancaster. So we had a little more than an hour to eat, we decided we didn’t want to scarf down hot food like last time so we went to the nearest little café by the bus to get a quick bite. Well…there were four of us, three of us ordered cheese burgers n’ chips and one ordered fish n’chips. All of us ordered a glass of tap water. After the waiter took our order, he put his coat on and walked out the door. A few minutes later he came back with a pack of classes, removed the card board and filled them up with water and served it us. Then we saw the cook come out of the kitchen, leave, and run across the street to the grocery store. When she came back she had a box of frozen burgers and breaded fish. Mmm….that’s a bit odd… Then the waiter left again and came back with a back of hamburger buns. Our food came a few minutes later and was horrible. That was my experience in Lancaster and I don’t think I’ll ever go back. Yikes!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Sunday 19 October 2008
Wales and London
Sorry it’s taken me so long to update….been pretty busy!
Wales: Oct. 3-4
We left for Wales early Friday morning and headed towards Chester. We stopped there for two hours to grab a bite to eat and look around. Although I’m starting to get my bus legs for ‘city’ buses, coach buses still make me feel a bit sick. So Katie and I stopped at a Boots Pharmacy to pick up some motion sickness mediation. It took longer than anticipated and we got kind of lost on the way back to the bus….we were only 10 minutes late. From there we headed to the Youth Hostel in Conway. We looked around the town, walked around the walls of the castle there and had a cup of tea in this very cute tea house.
The next day we went on a coach tour of Wales for about three hours or so? I don’t really remember the coach ride at all because I popped in my motion sickness medication and passed out before the bus started moving. I woke up in the town of Llandudno and asked what I missed….a lot of sheep.
This past week of classes has been pretty jam packed. Everything is really starting to get busy and homework is starting to pill up.
London Trip!
It’s Sunday night and we just got home from our weekend trip to London about 4 hours ago. Friday morning we went to the train station and meet up with two other students in our group and the assistant director of the program. She told us she’d be willing to come down to London for the day with us to show us around. It was a BIG help!
Friday:
We arrived in London around 10:15am and left our luggage at the station’s luggage storage area. Then we walked around a bit and then walked and took tons of pictures at Buckingham Palace. Then we walked to a church and ate in the Crypt. YUMMY! From lunch we headed off to the Westminster Abby and it was amazing! Your admission fee includes a headset to listen to of everything in the Abby, (Well not EVERYTHING cause there is just so much). The headset could be programmed into your language and the tour guide for English was Jeremy Irons, a.k.a Scar from the Lion King. It was an amazing tour and it was very beautiful! I could walk around that place for hours. During the tour it takes you into the room where the Monks would sing hymns and they played one of the pieces sung and I had tears in my eyes because it was just magnificent.
After the Abby we walked to the Globe theatre and to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Then we took the tube, subway, to Covent Garden’s and had fish & chips. The two other people in the group that we meet up with and the assistant director were heading back to Birmingham that night, and Katie, Ashley and I were staying in Claygate with family friends of Katie. Claygate is about a 30min. train ride from Waterloo. So here were our travels: From Covent Garden’s we took two tube rides to the train station in Waterloo, then bought a ticket to Claygate and jumped on the train. We arrived around 9pm and we all were completely exhausted!
The next morning, we got up bright and early, 6:15am, and headed back to Waterloo, and then tube rides to Leicester Square to get tickets to Phantom of the Opera! We were the first ones in the queue (line) so we went next door and got a latte. After we got our discount tickets, we went back towards St. Paul’s Cathedral to find Fleet Street! After getting a little turned around we found Fleet Street and then headed for Harrods department store. Since everything is really expensive we just got treats from the bakery!
From Harrods we took a tube to the British Museum and walked around there for a few hours. After the Museum we went into a few local shops. We also stopped to have a cup of tea and some yummy chips, a.k.a French fries.
After our little snack we again took a couple tube rides to the London Tower and the Tower Bridge. Next we headed back to Leicester Square to find “Her Majesty Theatre” and get some dinner. We ate at the Pizza Express and it was SOOOO GOOD! Then we went to Phantom of the Opera. Wow! It was so good that I cried during “Music of the Night”. After the shot we got on the tube and train back to Claygate.
We woke up this morning around 7:30 and headed back to Birmingham. We got in around 2ish. I’m catching up on some homework and then off to a much needed full nights rest!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Wales: Oct. 3-4
We left for Wales early Friday morning and headed towards Chester. We stopped there for two hours to grab a bite to eat and look around. Although I’m starting to get my bus legs for ‘city’ buses, coach buses still make me feel a bit sick. So Katie and I stopped at a Boots Pharmacy to pick up some motion sickness mediation. It took longer than anticipated and we got kind of lost on the way back to the bus….we were only 10 minutes late. From there we headed to the Youth Hostel in Conway. We looked around the town, walked around the walls of the castle there and had a cup of tea in this very cute tea house.
The next day we went on a coach tour of Wales for about three hours or so? I don’t really remember the coach ride at all because I popped in my motion sickness medication and passed out before the bus started moving. I woke up in the town of Llandudno and asked what I missed….a lot of sheep.
This past week of classes has been pretty jam packed. Everything is really starting to get busy and homework is starting to pill up.
London Trip!
It’s Sunday night and we just got home from our weekend trip to London about 4 hours ago. Friday morning we went to the train station and meet up with two other students in our group and the assistant director of the program. She told us she’d be willing to come down to London for the day with us to show us around. It was a BIG help!
Friday:
We arrived in London around 10:15am and left our luggage at the station’s luggage storage area. Then we walked around a bit and then walked and took tons of pictures at Buckingham Palace. Then we walked to a church and ate in the Crypt. YUMMY! From lunch we headed off to the Westminster Abby and it was amazing! Your admission fee includes a headset to listen to of everything in the Abby, (Well not EVERYTHING cause there is just so much). The headset could be programmed into your language and the tour guide for English was Jeremy Irons, a.k.a Scar from the Lion King. It was an amazing tour and it was very beautiful! I could walk around that place for hours. During the tour it takes you into the room where the Monks would sing hymns and they played one of the pieces sung and I had tears in my eyes because it was just magnificent.
After the Abby we walked to the Globe theatre and to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Then we took the tube, subway, to Covent Garden’s and had fish & chips. The two other people in the group that we meet up with and the assistant director were heading back to Birmingham that night, and Katie, Ashley and I were staying in Claygate with family friends of Katie. Claygate is about a 30min. train ride from Waterloo. So here were our travels: From Covent Garden’s we took two tube rides to the train station in Waterloo, then bought a ticket to Claygate and jumped on the train. We arrived around 9pm and we all were completely exhausted!
The next morning, we got up bright and early, 6:15am, and headed back to Waterloo, and then tube rides to Leicester Square to get tickets to Phantom of the Opera! We were the first ones in the queue (line) so we went next door and got a latte. After we got our discount tickets, we went back towards St. Paul’s Cathedral to find Fleet Street! After getting a little turned around we found Fleet Street and then headed for Harrods department store. Since everything is really expensive we just got treats from the bakery!
From Harrods we took a tube to the British Museum and walked around there for a few hours. After the Museum we went into a few local shops. We also stopped to have a cup of tea and some yummy chips, a.k.a French fries.
After our little snack we again took a couple tube rides to the London Tower and the Tower Bridge. Next we headed back to Leicester Square to find “Her Majesty Theatre” and get some dinner. We ate at the Pizza Express and it was SOOOO GOOD! Then we went to Phantom of the Opera. Wow! It was so good that I cried during “Music of the Night”. After the shot we got on the tube and train back to Claygate.
We woke up this morning around 7:30 and headed back to Birmingham. We got in around 2ish. I’m catching up on some homework and then off to a much needed full nights rest!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Saturday 4 October 2008
First Week of Classes
First Week of classes:
This week, similar to every other week prior, flew by! It was the first week of classes and it went great! I’m enrolled in 5 classes:
Psychology Marriages and Families Worldwide: LOVE IT! We have to do 2 service hours a week for a project. I’m doing my service hours at the Raddlebarn Primary School in the nursery!
British Archaeology: From Rome to Britain: British teacher talks really fast….not going to be good.
Understand Business and Politics: Love the class cause I get to talk about my MANY opinions.
Intro to Film Studies: We watched portions of three different movies the first day of class. Enough said.
Drawing: Which I take a 30min bus ride to an old man’s house on the other side of Birmingham. There are 9 students in the class and we draw in his garden and in his studio! How cool!
After class was over on Thursday, 10:30am, my weekend started! Ashley and I took the 21 bus over to Harborne High Street. It’s a long street full of vintages shops, bookstores, yummy bakeries and café’s and more! We went into an Oxfam Bookstore. (Oxfam is one of the many charity shops along this high street; charity shops are very popular in Birmingham. Research oxfam.org.uk for more wonderful information about this GRRRREAT cause!)
Ashley and I were in the used bookstore for more than an hour. All the books in the store were donated by people in the area. The books are really inexpensive. The books that I bought are old hardcover books and very cool! I found old copies of: Beowulf, Oliver Twist, Canterbury Tales, Cinderella, Hamlet, and the Complete Plays of Bernard Shaw! I’m so excited! Although the walk back to tennis courts, about a 25 minute walk, sucked.
Thursday night we had a duvet film night with our British friends downstairs. We watched “Shaun of the Dead.” I LOVED IT! Last night was the end of Fresher’s Fest and we went out with a bang. It was a foam dance party at the Student Guild! It was a blast but all the foam made it very slippery and kind of icky, but it was still a fun fun time!
Today it’s really cold, windy and rainy! So I’m just staying in working on homework and hanging out. Later on tonight a bunch of our British friends and us are having another duvet film night and ordering some yummy pizza! OOH BABY!
Better go!
Cheers!
Kirsten
This week, similar to every other week prior, flew by! It was the first week of classes and it went great! I’m enrolled in 5 classes:
Psychology Marriages and Families Worldwide: LOVE IT! We have to do 2 service hours a week for a project. I’m doing my service hours at the Raddlebarn Primary School in the nursery!
British Archaeology: From Rome to Britain: British teacher talks really fast….not going to be good.
Understand Business and Politics: Love the class cause I get to talk about my MANY opinions.
Intro to Film Studies: We watched portions of three different movies the first day of class. Enough said.
Drawing: Which I take a 30min bus ride to an old man’s house on the other side of Birmingham. There are 9 students in the class and we draw in his garden and in his studio! How cool!
After class was over on Thursday, 10:30am, my weekend started! Ashley and I took the 21 bus over to Harborne High Street. It’s a long street full of vintages shops, bookstores, yummy bakeries and café’s and more! We went into an Oxfam Bookstore. (Oxfam is one of the many charity shops along this high street; charity shops are very popular in Birmingham. Research oxfam.org.uk for more wonderful information about this GRRRREAT cause!)
Ashley and I were in the used bookstore for more than an hour. All the books in the store were donated by people in the area. The books are really inexpensive. The books that I bought are old hardcover books and very cool! I found old copies of: Beowulf, Oliver Twist, Canterbury Tales, Cinderella, Hamlet, and the Complete Plays of Bernard Shaw! I’m so excited! Although the walk back to tennis courts, about a 25 minute walk, sucked.
Thursday night we had a duvet film night with our British friends downstairs. We watched “Shaun of the Dead.” I LOVED IT! Last night was the end of Fresher’s Fest and we went out with a bang. It was a foam dance party at the Student Guild! It was a blast but all the foam made it very slippery and kind of icky, but it was still a fun fun time!
Today it’s really cold, windy and rainy! So I’m just staying in working on homework and hanging out. Later on tonight a bunch of our British friends and us are having another duvet film night and ordering some yummy pizza! OOH BABY!
Better go!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Sunday 28 September 2008
Kirsten's Day
Today was the first day in about a week that it actually rained a bit. Here was my day:
I have been feeling a bit under the weather so I slept in till about ten, got ready and headed out the door for a “Kirsten Day.” In other words, a day to do things on my own. I walked down to the bus stop, which is about a ten minute walk down to Bristol Rd. I got on the 62 Bus on my way to City Centre shopping attractions. Since I’ve been here, I have come to the realization that I made a very poor choice of NOT bring my jeans and sweatshirts, known as hoodies. EVERYONE here wears jeans and I was told that people don’t wear jeans….a certain someone who is going to go unnamed for the moment told me this….. so I came here with one pair of jeans.
So I did some jean shopping today at the “Bull Ring” which is the shopping centre downtown Birmingham. It was a pleasant day with the sun shining and me walking in and out of numerous shops on my own time. I got a bit hungry, so I stopped at a place called “EAT.” and picked a chicken and basil baguette. I have had some trouble finding food that I really enjoy so far in England, this sandwich however was the most delicious sandwich I have ever had on my palate! I was so sad when it was gone! Anyway, after my scrumptious lunch sitting on the steps overlooking downtown, I made my way back to a bus stop. I then went to the grocery store and got a little more than I could carry. I figured what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger so I told myself I was going to make it work. I got to the closest bus stop to the grocery store I was at, Sainsbury’s, and looked at the bus times. The bus I needed, Bus 44, was NOT running on Sundays. Which meant I had to walk to another bus stop to catch one of the 60’s and then make a 10 minute up-hill walk to my flat (keep in mind I had bags and bags of groceries and the stuff I bought downtown). As soon as the 62 bus dropped me off at my street to start my ‘hike,’ it started to rain. Yippy Skippy.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I start classes and I’m pretty excited to get into a routine. I’m also going around to different places after classes with my resume to find a job. I’ll let you know how my first week of classes goes!
Also, It’s free to talk on Skype over the internet so if you get an account give me a ring! I’m under Kirsten.Kvalsten.
Kirsten
I have been feeling a bit under the weather so I slept in till about ten, got ready and headed out the door for a “Kirsten Day.” In other words, a day to do things on my own. I walked down to the bus stop, which is about a ten minute walk down to Bristol Rd. I got on the 62 Bus on my way to City Centre shopping attractions. Since I’ve been here, I have come to the realization that I made a very poor choice of NOT bring my jeans and sweatshirts, known as hoodies. EVERYONE here wears jeans and I was told that people don’t wear jeans….a certain someone who is going to go unnamed for the moment told me this….. so I came here with one pair of jeans.
So I did some jean shopping today at the “Bull Ring” which is the shopping centre downtown Birmingham. It was a pleasant day with the sun shining and me walking in and out of numerous shops on my own time. I got a bit hungry, so I stopped at a place called “EAT.” and picked a chicken and basil baguette. I have had some trouble finding food that I really enjoy so far in England, this sandwich however was the most delicious sandwich I have ever had on my palate! I was so sad when it was gone! Anyway, after my scrumptious lunch sitting on the steps overlooking downtown, I made my way back to a bus stop. I then went to the grocery store and got a little more than I could carry. I figured what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger so I told myself I was going to make it work. I got to the closest bus stop to the grocery store I was at, Sainsbury’s, and looked at the bus times. The bus I needed, Bus 44, was NOT running on Sundays. Which meant I had to walk to another bus stop to catch one of the 60’s and then make a 10 minute up-hill walk to my flat (keep in mind I had bags and bags of groceries and the stuff I bought downtown). As soon as the 62 bus dropped me off at my street to start my ‘hike,’ it started to rain. Yippy Skippy.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I start classes and I’m pretty excited to get into a routine. I’m also going around to different places after classes with my resume to find a job. I’ll let you know how my first week of classes goes!
Also, It’s free to talk on Skype over the internet so if you get an account give me a ring! I’m under Kirsten.Kvalsten.
Kirsten
Saturday 27 September 2008
Welcome/ Fresher's Fest
What a week! This week was Welcome/Fresher’s Fest Week and it was a busy one!
All this week the campus had various fairs going on like Sport fairs, Society fairs, and Job fairs. There were two very large white tents outside the Student Guild where you’d walk through each day to get information on things going on around campus and the Birmingham area. Every night for Fresher’s there would be some sort of event going on. Fresher’s Fest is a festival for 1st year students at the University of Birmingham, 1st year doesn’t necessarily mean ‘freshman’ students. The event’s consisted of free bowling night, free cinema night, Dance clubs, block competition and last night was the Masquerade Ball!
For the Block Competition, each block of tennis courts dressed up a certain way and whatever block did the best job won free food. My block, 21, dressed up in camouflage. Me and Ashley were visiting some of our friends in the block next door and happened to run into a boy in the British Army and he gave us his button shirts to wear. Although are entire blocked looked pretty good, I believe the block who dressed up like the ghost busters won.
On the way to one of the fresher’s events, our bus broke down in the middle of the busy Bristol Road and we waited for about 30 minutes before another bus had to come pick us up…..arg! Then when we finally got to where we were going, the leaders of fresher’s got the group lost cause they didn’t know how to get to our destination…frustrating!
The Masquerade Ball was the most fun of the entire week! Ashley, Katie and I got all dolled up and walked down to the Student Guild around 9:30ish. As we were waiting in line to walk in, there was a man with fire torches and girls on stilts walking around with huge feathered masks. Once you got in, you walk down a long hallway that looked like you where walking among the stairs. There were three dance floors to accommodate the over 2000 people attending. One dance floor was all techno….so I didn’t even walk into that room, yuck. The other dance floor was a silent disco. Silent Disco’s are pretty popular here. It’s where everyone gets a set of ear phones with the music playing, but if you didn’t have a set of headphones, you’d see a bunch of people dancing but you wouldn’t be hearing any music. It looked funny! Last but not least, was the hip hop dance floor where we spent our entire night. Now people in the UK mainly listen to Techno music, so it’s not that common to have much hip hop at dance clubs. You could tell that we were American’s because we were busting it out like it was our job and all the British students were looking at us like we were from a different plant. It was a lot of fun!
Today is yet another beautiful day! We have been so lucky with all our sunny day’s here in Birmingham, England. The weeks prior to our arrival it rained every day, it hasn’t rained more than 5 minutes! Woot Woot! Since classes start on Monday, us girls are keeping it low key this weekend. Hanging out around the flat and making a trip to Tesco’s. Tesco’s is similar to a Wal-Mart and is very cheap for groceries and other home accessories. We have to take two buses to get there, but it’s worth it for the prices. Speaking of buses, I think I’m finally starting to get my “bus legs” and not getting as dizzy. Thank heavens or else this would have been a long year!
Miss you!
Kirsten
All this week the campus had various fairs going on like Sport fairs, Society fairs, and Job fairs. There were two very large white tents outside the Student Guild where you’d walk through each day to get information on things going on around campus and the Birmingham area. Every night for Fresher’s there would be some sort of event going on. Fresher’s Fest is a festival for 1st year students at the University of Birmingham, 1st year doesn’t necessarily mean ‘freshman’ students. The event’s consisted of free bowling night, free cinema night, Dance clubs, block competition and last night was the Masquerade Ball!
For the Block Competition, each block of tennis courts dressed up a certain way and whatever block did the best job won free food. My block, 21, dressed up in camouflage. Me and Ashley were visiting some of our friends in the block next door and happened to run into a boy in the British Army and he gave us his button shirts to wear. Although are entire blocked looked pretty good, I believe the block who dressed up like the ghost busters won.
On the way to one of the fresher’s events, our bus broke down in the middle of the busy Bristol Road and we waited for about 30 minutes before another bus had to come pick us up…..arg! Then when we finally got to where we were going, the leaders of fresher’s got the group lost cause they didn’t know how to get to our destination…frustrating!
The Masquerade Ball was the most fun of the entire week! Ashley, Katie and I got all dolled up and walked down to the Student Guild around 9:30ish. As we were waiting in line to walk in, there was a man with fire torches and girls on stilts walking around with huge feathered masks. Once you got in, you walk down a long hallway that looked like you where walking among the stairs. There were three dance floors to accommodate the over 2000 people attending. One dance floor was all techno….so I didn’t even walk into that room, yuck. The other dance floor was a silent disco. Silent Disco’s are pretty popular here. It’s where everyone gets a set of ear phones with the music playing, but if you didn’t have a set of headphones, you’d see a bunch of people dancing but you wouldn’t be hearing any music. It looked funny! Last but not least, was the hip hop dance floor where we spent our entire night. Now people in the UK mainly listen to Techno music, so it’s not that common to have much hip hop at dance clubs. You could tell that we were American’s because we were busting it out like it was our job and all the British students were looking at us like we were from a different plant. It was a lot of fun!
Today is yet another beautiful day! We have been so lucky with all our sunny day’s here in Birmingham, England. The weeks prior to our arrival it rained every day, it hasn’t rained more than 5 minutes! Woot Woot! Since classes start on Monday, us girls are keeping it low key this weekend. Hanging out around the flat and making a trip to Tesco’s. Tesco’s is similar to a Wal-Mart and is very cheap for groceries and other home accessories. We have to take two buses to get there, but it’s worth it for the prices. Speaking of buses, I think I’m finally starting to get my “bus legs” and not getting as dizzy. Thank heavens or else this would have been a long year!
Miss you!
Kirsten
Tuesday 23 September 2008
The Old Man of Coniston
Phew.... I'm pretty tired!
So we left at 9am for the Lake District which was about 3 1/2 hours away on Friday morning. As soon as we got there we got all our sheets and stuff to get our beds put together in is assigned rooms. My room was called "Napping Tree." hehehe! Then we got split into 6 groups. Each group was assigned a job each day to do a specific job. For example, Friday night my group was on dinner duty. We had to set the tables, serve the meal, and wash up afterwards...lots of work!
Every night at Coniston we did 'community' building games with our entire group. We did the name game the first night. We had to say our name with and adjective, the only name I could come up with was "Kick-ass Kirsten!" LOL!
On Saturday, my flat mate Ashley and I decided we were going to hike up the Old Man Coniston....now let me tell you about that... The people at the Presley Centre, where we were staying, said that it was a hike on a trail.... WRONG! It was more like a 7 hour mountain climb! It was one of the most mentally/physically demanding things I've ever done! 2276 ft, on a steep steep steep rocky path that wasn't really a path at all. The entire time up I kept saying to myself, "Why am I doing this?" But as soon as I made it to the peek, I looked down at my accomplishment and at the beautiful scenic view and it was all worth it! It was amazing! I saw the Irish Sea and the entire country side and it was absolutely gorgeous! I have never hiked in my entire life and after this experience I decided you either go big or go home.
On the way back down our leader Dan decided to make up his own route and took us through the country side were we got lost and went through a knee high muddy swamp and a river. As soon as we found the main road we took it back to the center.
On Sunday, the last full day, I went on a 2 hour canoe trip to a small island in the middle of the lake. There were five three person canoes and we all had a fun pirate fight on the way there which sounded like a good idea at first but when I was really the only one who got so wet that I could take my jumper off and I could bring it out….it suddenly became a bad idea cause I was sooo cold. We got to the island and had elevenzies. This is tea and biscuits at 11 o’clock! YUMMY! Then made our journey back to the center. At this point I was very very tired from all the physical activity and ready for a small cat nap before our evening meal. But I didn’t want to miss out on anything so when we got back, 11 of us decided to take a 10 person canoe to the Ruskin’s Home across the lake. A famous local paint critic and botanist. His large home for a tour and a small coffee shop for some tea, cakes, and beer.
We left early Monday morning for Birmingham and got home around 3ish. I was thrilled to find out that my internet wasn’t working and neither was my phone….not. Last night we just hung around our flat and relaxed, well besides for the grocery store visit.
It’s about 6:30pm here and I’m just about to get ready for a Fresher’s Fest event starting at 8. It’s a huge festival going on this week and tonight it’s at the Oceana Club. I better get ready!
Cheers!
Kirsten
So we left at 9am for the Lake District which was about 3 1/2 hours away on Friday morning. As soon as we got there we got all our sheets and stuff to get our beds put together in is assigned rooms. My room was called "Napping Tree." hehehe! Then we got split into 6 groups. Each group was assigned a job each day to do a specific job. For example, Friday night my group was on dinner duty. We had to set the tables, serve the meal, and wash up afterwards...lots of work!
Every night at Coniston we did 'community' building games with our entire group. We did the name game the first night. We had to say our name with and adjective, the only name I could come up with was "Kick-ass Kirsten!" LOL!
On Saturday, my flat mate Ashley and I decided we were going to hike up the Old Man Coniston....now let me tell you about that... The people at the Presley Centre, where we were staying, said that it was a hike on a trail.... WRONG! It was more like a 7 hour mountain climb! It was one of the most mentally/physically demanding things I've ever done! 2276 ft, on a steep steep steep rocky path that wasn't really a path at all. The entire time up I kept saying to myself, "Why am I doing this?" But as soon as I made it to the peek, I looked down at my accomplishment and at the beautiful scenic view and it was all worth it! It was amazing! I saw the Irish Sea and the entire country side and it was absolutely gorgeous! I have never hiked in my entire life and after this experience I decided you either go big or go home.
On the way back down our leader Dan decided to make up his own route and took us through the country side were we got lost and went through a knee high muddy swamp and a river. As soon as we found the main road we took it back to the center.
On Sunday, the last full day, I went on a 2 hour canoe trip to a small island in the middle of the lake. There were five three person canoes and we all had a fun pirate fight on the way there which sounded like a good idea at first but when I was really the only one who got so wet that I could take my jumper off and I could bring it out….it suddenly became a bad idea cause I was sooo cold. We got to the island and had elevenzies. This is tea and biscuits at 11 o’clock! YUMMY! Then made our journey back to the center. At this point I was very very tired from all the physical activity and ready for a small cat nap before our evening meal. But I didn’t want to miss out on anything so when we got back, 11 of us decided to take a 10 person canoe to the Ruskin’s Home across the lake. A famous local paint critic and botanist. His large home for a tour and a small coffee shop for some tea, cakes, and beer.
We left early Monday morning for Birmingham and got home around 3ish. I was thrilled to find out that my internet wasn’t working and neither was my phone….not. Last night we just hung around our flat and relaxed, well besides for the grocery store visit.
It’s about 6:30pm here and I’m just about to get ready for a Fresher’s Fest event starting at 8. It’s a huge festival going on this week and tonight it’s at the Oceana Club. I better get ready!
Cheers!
Kirsten
Travel, Travel, Travel.....
Hello for Birmingham!
Wow what a crazy adventure it has been so far!
The first plane ride was 5 1/2 hours to Iceland and it wasn't too bad. On the plane our meal was some kind of mix between enchiladas' and manicotti...sketch! Then we had about an hour lay over there till we hopped on the final plane to Heathrow, which was a 2 1/2 hour flight.
As soon as we landed in England, we spent about an hour or so getting through customs. Finally, we meet up with our program director and professors from UMD and took off on two coaches to Birmingham. It was a 2 1/2 hour coach ride that felt like 5 minutes....I slept the ENTIRE time!
We arrived at our Flats around 3pm and had three hours to settle in a bit then meet the entire group for a FREE dinner of cold english sandwiches such as curry and bacon, cheese and onion, chicken and corn, and cheese and pickles....again...sketch. The next morning, leaving no room for jet leg, we had to be up and ready to meet at 9am for our full day of getting acquainted with the University.
We first went to the Bank to set up our accounts, which took roughly 5 hours total. We also had to sign up for our Heath Care on campus.
Then they took us on the city bus around to some places like the grocery store and where are classes will be held.
Today, another early morning, we went to Selly Oak Campus and did a 'lottery.' We all got a piece of paper with times, number of items per room, and which room to start in first. So since we all arrive in flats with only clothes and some toiletries, are flats are pretty empty besides a couple plates, a cup, and a sauce pan. So the students from last year left stuff they didn't have room for to take back and we got to go through all that stuff and take what we might need.
I was able to get: A hair straighter, a few kitchen utensils, notebooks, pens, kettle, measuring cups, and some other random school supplies.
Also today we had some speakers from the International Office on Campus to talk about Welcome week and a police officer to talk to us about how to stay safe here.
Thus far I've had a great time......beside's the date with the porcelain toilet this morning due to a little bit of jet leg, dehydration, city buses, and a bad cold cut sandwich.... I can tell I'm really going to love it here and I'm already thinking that it's flying by!
It's 9:20 pm here and we JUST got internet! I got a cell phone last night and my number is:
07908154898
My address is:
Block 21 Flat 138
Tennis Courts
Edgbaston Park Road
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2RB
Tomorrow we head off bright and early for the Lake District till Monday night! I'll let you know how it all goes!
See ya! Miss you!
Wow what a crazy adventure it has been so far!
The first plane ride was 5 1/2 hours to Iceland and it wasn't too bad. On the plane our meal was some kind of mix between enchiladas' and manicotti...sketch! Then we had about an hour lay over there till we hopped on the final plane to Heathrow, which was a 2 1/2 hour flight.
As soon as we landed in England, we spent about an hour or so getting through customs. Finally, we meet up with our program director and professors from UMD and took off on two coaches to Birmingham. It was a 2 1/2 hour coach ride that felt like 5 minutes....I slept the ENTIRE time!
We arrived at our Flats around 3pm and had three hours to settle in a bit then meet the entire group for a FREE dinner of cold english sandwiches such as curry and bacon, cheese and onion, chicken and corn, and cheese and pickles....again...sketch. The next morning, leaving no room for jet leg, we had to be up and ready to meet at 9am for our full day of getting acquainted with the University.
We first went to the Bank to set up our accounts, which took roughly 5 hours total. We also had to sign up for our Heath Care on campus.
Then they took us on the city bus around to some places like the grocery store and where are classes will be held.
Today, another early morning, we went to Selly Oak Campus and did a 'lottery.' We all got a piece of paper with times, number of items per room, and which room to start in first. So since we all arrive in flats with only clothes and some toiletries, are flats are pretty empty besides a couple plates, a cup, and a sauce pan. So the students from last year left stuff they didn't have room for to take back and we got to go through all that stuff and take what we might need.
I was able to get: A hair straighter, a few kitchen utensils, notebooks, pens, kettle, measuring cups, and some other random school supplies.
Also today we had some speakers from the International Office on Campus to talk about Welcome week and a police officer to talk to us about how to stay safe here.
Thus far I've had a great time......beside's the date with the porcelain toilet this morning due to a little bit of jet leg, dehydration, city buses, and a bad cold cut sandwich.... I can tell I'm really going to love it here and I'm already thinking that it's flying by!
It's 9:20 pm here and we JUST got internet! I got a cell phone last night and my number is:
07908154898
My address is:
Block 21 Flat 138
Tennis Courts
Edgbaston Park Road
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2RB
Tomorrow we head off bright and early for the Lake District till Monday night! I'll let you know how it all goes!
See ya! Miss you!
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